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Monday, August 3, 2015

#PitchWars: Wishlist

What do I want to see? Everything. Since we can only pick one person this year, I want options. I want to find that manuscript that's special, that has a great voice, that I would be willing to read over and over again during edits. I want to be forced to make an agonizing decision between great manuscripts. I will be requesting the first three chapters of my top picks again, and possibly the full if I'm faced with that agonizing choice. I hope to provide feedback to my top picks, but I make no promises.

Now that's what I want, but just like I can only pick one of you, you're limited in the number of mentors you can submit to. So you want to make sure that you're picking the mentors who will be the best fit for you. Therefore, while I want to see everything, there are some things I'm not comfortable with: horror, cannibalism, evil zombies, incest, child abuse, animal abuse, pedophilia, necrophilia, or anything that goes beyond taboo and into despicable. I also do best with books that have a happy ending, whether it be happy forever or happy for right now. The book can be full of struggles and angst, so long as I have the comfort of knowing everything will turn out all right by the end.

Moving onto my area of expertise, I am best with romances (big shocker there, huh?) and the majority of my editing clients do fall into that genre. I do read pretty much anything that has a romantic element in there somewhere, regardless of overall genre. However, if you have something that you think isn't my usual fare, but you're sure I'm the perfect fit, submit it to me anyway.

(if you're thinking to yourself, that all seemed very familiar, you get a cookie! The last two paragraphs are a copy and paste from my 2013 wishlist.)

Like I did with the Pride, I will be looking for manuscripts that fit the agents' wishlists or are particularly marketable. So if your manuscript matches something on the list below, please please please submit to me.

Contemporary that features a heroine in a non-traditional career. Like, oh, I don't know, a female mechanic?

Contemporary romance where the main couple are/were contestants on a Voice-type reality show and their relationship starts to develop during filming, or if they were child contestants together twenty years ago and reconnected during a reunion special.

A twisty, heart-stopping, romantic suspense or mystery

Magical Realism Contemporary, something like Eureka, but where it's magic instead of technology.

Something featuring an American Ninja Warrior-type hero

A m/m fiction-y love story that's gorgeously written

In any commercial genre, a book inspired by a gender-swapped fairy-tale. For example, a gender-swapped, sci-fic, Cinderella: He's the lowly grunt on his step-father's ship and she's the highly-decorated captain looking for a second in command. A fantasy-esque Swan Princess: He's cursed by the sorcerer because the Big Bad wants the heroine for himself, but she says F that and sets off on an epic quest to rescue the hero.

Submissions open up on August 17th. I hope you all flood my inbox with submissions. I'm looking for just the right person to add to the Pride. Will it be you?